Arkansas - Inmate Search - All County Jail Rosters

Search for any jail in Arkansas

Arkansas county and city jails

Arkansas has 75 counties and about 3 million people. The sheriff runs the jail in most of them. A few rural counties hold people only overnight, or contract with a neighbor, rather than keep a full-service jail of their own. City lockups are usually booking counters. The long stay is in the county jail.

Local jails are inspected under Arkansas Code Title 12, Chapter 26. The state is split into eight districts, each with a Criminal Detention Facility Review Committee appointed by the governor. The Office of Criminal Detention Facilities Review Coordinator, working with the Commission on Law Enforcement Standards and Training, inspects adult jails and juvenile detention centers every year against the minimum standards revised in 2022. A facility that fails can be ordered to correct the deficiency. This is not a single statewide board of people who have been locked up. It is a district inspection system.

Jails in Arkansas hold people before trial and people serving a misdemeanor. A Class A misdemeanor can mean up to a year in the county jail. A Class B tops out at 90 days, and a Class C at 30 days. A felony sentence goes to the Division of Correction. Units include Cummins, Varner, Tucker, the East Arkansas Regional Unit, Ouachita River, Grimes, McPherson, and the Wrightsville complex, among others. A federal sentence goes to the Bureau of Prisons. FCI Forrest City is the federal prison in the state.

How many county jails are there in Arkansas?

There is not a neat total of 75 open jails for 75 counties. Most counties run one. Some share a regional jail, and some book into the next county when their own lockup is full or closed for repairs. A jail that takes an out-of-county prisoner bills the sending county a daily rate set by contract. The same billing applies when the Division of Correction sends someone back for a new charge or a court date, and when the U.S. Marshals or ICE rent a bed. The rate is not a single statewide figure.

Older jails in growing counties, especially in Northwest Arkansas, are the ones that run out of beds first. A transfer does not change the court. It changes the building the family has to call.

How many juvenile detention centers are there in Arkansas?

County juvenile detention centers are regional, not one per county. They hold youth before a hearing and for short sanctions. The review committees inspect them on the same annual cycle as adult jails. A longer commitment is a different system. The Division of Youth Services operates five secure facilities for youth ages 10 to 21: the Arkansas Juvenile Assessment and Treatment Center, Dermott Juvenile Correctional Facility for ages 18 to 21, Harrisburg Juvenile Treatment Center, Lewisville Juvenile Treatment Center, and Mansfield Juvenile Treatment Center. DYS also uses the Civilian Student Training Program at Camp Robinson as an alternative to a secure bed, and it contracts with community providers. In fiscal year 2025, DYS counted 442 commitments to youth services centers.

A youth in a county detention center is usually waiting on court. A youth at Mansfield, Harrisburg, Lewisville, Dermott, or the assessment center has already been committed. Both kinds of facilities are secure, and both are expected to keep the youth in school. Search the county of the arrest to see which detention center that judicial district uses.

What the first days in an Arkansas county jail are like

Intake is the hard part: name, prints, mugshot, medical questions, a search, property taken, one call if the line is free. The person has not been convicted. The jail still runs on a presumption of custody. Food is plain, the uniform does not fit, and sleep is broken by doors and counts. Someone coming off alcohol or drugs can be in withdrawal before the first appearance.

The shift sets the tone. Consistent rules make a small jail quieter. Favoritism and missed checks are how contraband and fights start. Larger jails in Pulaski, Benton, and Washington counties can separate people by risk. A 20-bed jail often cannot.

Many county jails now sell tablet time, video visits, and deposits through a vendor. A bonding company fee is not a deposit, and a tablet account can be shut off. Each Arkansas jail page on this site lists the phone number, the vendor, and the way to send money for that sheriff’s office.